April 27th, 2008
by the-Mad-Majesty-of-Muchness
Summary: Mark spends a bit of special godfather/goddaughter bonding time with Roger and Mimi's daughter before she heads off to prom. One-shot.


**Okay, so awhile ago, I somehow got the idea of Roger and Mimi having a daughter and her name being Musetta, so that's how she came to be, and the rest of her backstory is pretty self-explanatory, and you'll be getting the basics of it in this story here. Also, if anyone wants to see it, I'll be posting a link to her dress in this on my profile. If you scroll down on the page, the specific color scheme I chose for Muse will be the second picture in the second row. I will also post links to her gloves, shoes, and tights. And also, when I talk about the specific features she inherited from Mimi and Roger, I'm talking about Mimi and Roger played by Rosario Dawson and Adam Pascal in the movie, because that is, I am sad to say, the version that I am most familiar with, having never gotten to see it live and only just having watched the filmed Broadway performance for the very first time earlier today, which was AMAZING, though I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't recognize Tracie Thoms and/or Eden Espinosa, BUT IN MY DEFENSE, I'm not used to seeing Tracie with glasses or long hair, and I'm more used to seeing Eden painted green than anything else, so.**

**Anyway, I'll shut up and let you read.**

**Also, I own nothing except for Musetta and Kasey, everything else belongs to the late Jonathan Larson. :)**

* * *

"Uncle Mark? There's a lot of bare skin in the back, do you think I should wear my vest?"

Mark looked up from trying to figure out what was wrong with his film projector and momentarily forgot how to speak. Musetta was standing there in the doorway of her bedroom looking more beautiful than he could ever remember seeing her before. "No," he managed finally. "Your hair's long enough that you should be fine. The vest would only take away from everything else, hide too much of the dress for anyone to see how amazing it looks on you."

Not for the first time, he felt a pang in his heart when she smiled in response. She'd always looked a lot like her mother in the face, and the resemblance only increased as she got older. Now that she was sixteen, if someone were to hold up a picture of her mother next to her while she was smiling, the two might almost pass as twins, if not for Muse's skintone being somewhat lighter and the fact that she had her father's dirty blonde hair.

_Four more years, Rog, _he thought. _You just couldn't stick around for those four extra years, could you? Couldn't even make it long enough to see her like this._

His eyes drifted down and he let out a sudden laugh, making Musetta jump in surprise. "What's so funny?" she asked.  
"You get all done up and get the rats' nests out of your hair and the whole nine yards, but you can't even be bothered to wear something besides those old boots with that fancy dress, that's what!" he said. "God, that's so typical! You are _such _your father's daughter!"

Smirking, she put her hands on her hips and came over to where he was sitting on the ledge of a windowsill that ran in front of the windows of the loft's back wall, jumping up onto it and standing in front of him. "Did you see my tights?" she asked, but Mark was already covering his mouth, face red as his shoulders trembled with poorly suppressed laughter. "You just had to wear the skull-and-crossbone fishnets, didn't you?"

Musetta Davis had picked a prom outfit that would have made both her parents quite proud, there was no doubting that. It was comprised of a strapless, above-the-knee leopard print bustier dress in varying shades of purple, pink, and what Maureen, when she'd seen it, had dubbed "tangerine orange." ("It's fucking orange," Mark and Muse had chorused.) It had a sweetheart neckline, wide purple satin waistband that, along with the bodice, was embellished with multicolored beads and jewels, a subtly flared skirt made up of layers of purple and coral ("It's fucking pink, dammit!") tulle, underneath which was where the leopard print could be seen, and Muse had complained about how she hated having a "stupid piece of metal" in the hemline of the skirt, and even after Joanne had explained that the wire was there to help keep the flared shape, Muse had continued to announce her hatred for it until finally, Joanne had asked a woman at her law firm if she could get the wire out, after which it had been returned to Musetta in time to be worn.

With the dress, she was wearing, as Mark had noted, a pair of fishnet tights covered in images of the Jolly Roger skull-and-crossbones that had been stitched repeatedly into the material, and instead of wearing pumps, or even borrowing a pair of heeled boots from Maureen or Joanne, or wearing a pair of Mimi's old shoes, which she sometimes did anyway, she'd opted to wear the same shoes she wore on an everyday basis; A pair of vintage military knee-high boots made of distressed black leather that laced up in the front and that were scuffed, worn, and had what Collins referred to as "crackles and scrapes" all over them. (They had, in fact, been a birthday present from him one year.) And to top the whole thing off, she had on short one-fingered fishnet gloves that she'd found among her mother's belongings when scrounging around one October for things she could use to make a "fabulous, one-of-a-kind Musetta C. Davis Halloween costume, not found in any store anywhere!"

"I wish your dad could see you like this," Mark said. "He would've loved getting to see you dress up all fancy and put on makeup and everything. Hell, he'd probably have spent these last few weeks bombarding you with all sorts of tips and shit to make sure that your night doesn't end in disaster like ours did when we went to our prom in Scarsdale." Musetta scoffed and rolled her eyes as she jumped down from the windowsill and perched herself on it beside her godfather. "Oh, yeah," she said, "I'm sure he would. He'd tell me things like, 'Don't throw paint-balloons at everyone and they won't kick you out.'"

"Okay, but to be fair, that one actually wasn't his idea, it was April's," Mark countered. He paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Of course, she was joking when she said that, and he took it literally, but still, he never would've done that if she hadn't put the idea in his head to begin with."

"Hey, at least I have the sense to go stag like Uncle Collins, though, right?"  
"Collins didn't go stag, Collins went to the prom with Collins."  
"Which is Collins Speak for 'I went stag, bitches.'"  
"Exactly. You're not, though, you've got Kasey."  
"Kasey's a friend, so that doesn't really count."  
"Agree to disagree, then."

They grinned at each other, then Muse got up and headed for the kitchen. "Hey, I'm gonna have some of that leftover pizza, you want any?" she called over her shoulder. Mark shook his head as he went back to his projector. "No thanks," he said, "don't wanna get grease all over my hands while I'm working on this, maybe I'll have some later. Careful you don't get any of it on your dress."  
"I won't," she sing-songed. Mark grinned and shook his head fondly.

"Hey, Uncle Mark?" Musetta called after a few moments. "Yeah?" he replied.

"When Dad died, do you think it was Mom or April that he ended up going to?"

Mark froze and considered that for several moments or so. On the one hand, he knew that deep down, as happy as he'd been with Mimi, Roger had never truly stopped loving April. On the other hand, though, he'd never had a kid with April; it was Mimi who'd been the mother of Roger's first and only child, the same girl that Mark himself had been raising ever since AIDS had finally taken Roger four years ago when Musetta was twelve. That fact was obvious, too. She may've had Roger's hair, and her skin may've been a fairly even mixture of both her parents, but she had Mimi's full lips and the same set of dark brown eyes that had inspired the song Roger had written while he was off in Santa Fe.

"Don't tell me he's with Mom just to spare my feelings," Muse said, snapping him out of his thoughts. Mark was silent as he thought for several long moments before finally shaking his head. "I honestly don't know, Muse," he said. "I mean, he loved your mom. He really did. Just as much as he ever loved April. But I don't think he ever really let go of April, either. It really hit him hard."

"He was the one that found her in the bathroom, right?"  
"Yeah. Yeah, he was. He couldn't go in there for...I don't even know how long afterwards."

Muse nodded. She seemed like she was about to say more, but before she could, there was a knock on the door. "It's open!" Mark called. The door slid open, and Muse's best friend stepped in wearing a dress that was identical to Muse's, except in blues and purples rather than oranges and pinks, and instead of the ankle high combat boots that she was usually wearing when Mark saw her, she had actually bothered to find a nice pair of blue strappy heels.

"Hey, Kasey," Mark said. "Wow, don't you look nice."  
"Thanks, Mark. Oooh, you've got the camera stuff out, fun."  
"Yeah. Projector's been acting funky lately, so I'm trying to fix it."

"Is that Kasey?" Muse called from the kitchen.  
"Oh, so _that's _where you're hiding!" Kasey said, turning and heading in the direction of her friend's voice. "What are you doing in the kitch—Muse, you're eating pizza in your dress?! Are you crazy?!"  
"Yes, but that's not why I'm eating, I'm eating because I'm hungry. I'm being careful, look, I haven't gotten anything on myself at all!"

"Oh, Kasey, you should've seen her dad when we went to prom," Mark said. "He made us all late because he'd decided it would be a good idea to eat leftover spaghetti while waiting for Collins and Maureen to show up, and he got this huge stain on his shirt, so he had to go hunting for another one, and so that's what he was doing when they showed, and we ended up leaving like ten minutes behind schedule."

"Oh, so Daddy's genes are once again at fault, is that it?" Kasey said jokingly. Muse rolled her eyes, but Mark nodded. "Pretty much," he said. "Hey, before you girls go, I wanna get some shots of you in your dresses, is that alright?"  
"Go for it," Muse said.

Mark picked up his camera and wound it up, then aimed it at his own face.

"April 27th, 2008, 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time," he said, then turned the camera towards the girls. "Zoom in on Musetta Davis, my beautiful goddaughter, sixteen years old and about to head off to prom. Pan left, close up on Kasey Powell, Muse's best friend and prom date, so to speak. Zoom out to see both girls wearing matching dresses in different color schemes, and pan down, close on Kasey's shoes, a slow pan up all the way up, then pan right to Muse, and another slow pan all the way down to the toes of her—yes, you're seeing that correctly—combat boots." He turned the camera back on himself. "We have her father to thank for that," he said.

"Now," he continued, turning it back around again, "ladies, if you would be so kind as to give me a slow turn so I can get you from all angles? Just like that, perfect. Thank you."

"Uncle Mark, we gotta go, we'll be late!" Muse said, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet.  
"Alright, alright, go, get outta here," he replied, setting the camera down and waving them towards the door. Muse ran over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then turned and followed Kasey out the door, both of them saying bye over their shoulders. Mark smiled and shook his head, then sat back down to keep working on his projector. He'd barely been there a full minute when the door suddenly opened and Muse came rushing back in. "Forgot my house key!" she said, leaning over and grabbing it off the coffee table. "Got somewhere to put it?" Mark asked, and Muse ran into her room, the re-emerged a moment later. "I put it under my tights, it's taped to my thigh, made sure it's secure," she said in a rush. Mark nodded in response. "Okay," she said, "gotta go, bye, Uncle Mark, love you!"

"Hey, Muse, hold up a sec!"  
"Yeah?"  
"What you said earlier about your dad?"  
"Yeah?"  
"You still want my honest opinion? No sparing your feelings?"  
"Yeah."

There was a pause as Mark looked out the window for a brief moment, then turned and smiled at his goddaughter. "I think he's with both of them," he said. Musetta returned his smile, and when she came over to him, he stood up, wrapping his arms around her slender frame and returning the hug she was giving him. "You're the best, Uncle Mark," she said. "I don't know what I'd ever do without you. You're right. I bet he is with both of them. And Angel, too."  
"Yeah. And Angel, too."

There was another pause before they pulled apart. Mark smiled, holding the hand that she lifted above her head as she twirled around and watched her skirt flare out around her legs. "You really do look beautiful," he said. "Your mom and dad would be so proud right now. I just wish they were here to see you like this."  
"I miss them. So much. Every day. I still cry at night sometimes, you know."  
"I know. I miss them, too. I wish I could take away the pain, but..."  
"Does it ever really go away? Or will it always be like this?"  
"It never truly ends, I don't think. But it gets better with time."

"Muse!" Kasey called from the hallway. "Musetta, come on, we're gonna be late, let's go already!"  
"Better not keep her waiting," Mark said. "And remember, home by midnight."

"I know."  
"And no drinking."  
"Yes, Uncle Mark."  
"And if anyone asks something that sounds even vaguely along the lines of 'wanna go somewhere more private,' no matter what their gender is, you say...?"

"I'll tell them no."  
"And if they keep bothering you about it?"  
"Go find a friend or one of the chaperones."  
"And if they _still _won't leave you alone after that?"  
"Tell them that I have a godmother who's a lawyer and I can sue for sexual harassment."

"And who's going to be with you when you get back?"  
"Kasey, and that's it, except for maybe her brother depending on how things go on his end, and if he's not with us, then Kasey's spending the night so she won't have to walk home alone and put herself at risk."

"And where are you gonna go before coming home?"  
"Absolutely nowhere, I'm coming straight back, even if someone tries to get me to go somewhere, and even if it's a friend."

"Good girl. Alright, I"m done, you can go now."  
Muse turned and began heading out the door again. "Oh, wait!" Mark said. "I forgot the two most important things!"

"And what are they?"  
"Tell me all about it when you get back, and even more importantly...Muse? It's your prom. This is a huge milestone for every teenager. It's for you to let loose and enjoy yourself, so the most important rule I'm giving you that I expect you to follow tonight is to just have fun, alright?"  
She nodded. "Alright. Bye, Uncle Mark. I'll see you later."

The door closed behind her.

"Bye, baby."

* * *

**The dress Kasey is wearing will also be on the same page as the one Muse is wearing, and the picture of Kasey's color scheme is right next to the one of Muse's. So, um...I don't really have much else to say, so I hope you enjoyed, and be sure to check out the various elements of Muse's prom outfit! :) Oh, and of course, VIVA LA VIE BOHEME!  
**


End file.
